


Gals being Pals

by Redmaximoff



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 04:48:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18684463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redmaximoff/pseuds/Redmaximoff
Summary: When a genius teenage princess meets a powerful teenage witch, they become unstoppable (and incredibly annoying to anyone who has to live with them).





	1. Deliver Us

Time was difficult in the Raft Prison. There was no way of telling the time, no way for Wanda Maximoff to know how long she had already been in this hellhole. The lights were always on, making it hard for her to sleep. Of course that wasn’t the only reason. 

The straitjacket wasn’t terrible. Uncomfortable, yes but not unbearable. The straps that held the jacket together were just a little too tight, making it a little difficult to breathe. But she could deal with that. She’d had worse pain before. 

But the collar. The damned collar. The heavy, cold metal encircled her neck, choking her. The way it dug into her collarbone wasn’t particularly fun either. But what made it so unbearably awful was the burning that came from the press of a button which consumed her and drove all thoughts out of her head but the burning, searing, pain. 

Wanda had learned a while ago not to try to move. The first time she learned this was when the guards came in with food for the prisoners. She had began to make her way forward with the others, when a guard had noticed her and took a small electronic device out of his pocket, pointing it at her. 

“Don’t even think about it, little witch.” He had growled at her. 

Wanda hadn’t understood. Don’t even think about what? 

“Wha-” There it was. The first time, she had been taken so much by surprise and the pain had been so overwhelming that she had just fallen to the floor, screaming. That had been her first mistake. She had felt the fear and disgust radiating from the guard as he had increased the voltage, then all she could feel was pain. 

She had heard the shouts from who she had vaguely recognised as Clint and Sam from her vantage point on the ground, and even the ant guy- Scott, she was sure his name was. That was another mistake. The pain reached a point where she could see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think. Then she had faded into blessed unconsciousness. 

It had taken them two days- or so she’d assumed, judging by the three bland meals the guards brought in per day- two days, for one of them to actually get the courage to go in and feed her. She had felt so weak and desperate by the lack of food that she hadn’t even registered the indignity of being spoon-fed until after. 

So now, Wanda sat in complete silence. Not moving, not talking, not doing anything that could cause her more pain. The others tried to talk to her at first, first in cheerful tones (which she suspected were put on for her benefit) but gradually becoming more concerned as they received no response. Wanda could feel Clint’s frustration and fear with each attempt he made to communicate. 

“Wanda, are you alright? Can you just let me know if you’re alright?” 

“Kid, please talk to me. I just want to know if you’re ok. Wanda...” 

“Wanda, Wanda, Wanda...” 

Wanda felt terrible, knowing that she was causing him so much worry. But she couldn’t. She just couldn’t do it. Every time she attempted to talk, to tell him how much it hurt and to receive the comfort that she craved, she could feel the angry pricking from the collar, daring her to just try. When she had tried to talk at the beginning she had been met only with that hellish burning; it just wasn’t worth it. So she sat back and took comfort in the silence. She remembered an old Hebrew prayer she had been taught as a child, and repeated it over and over in her head, trying to find an escape in the words.  
***  
Wakanda was beautiful at night. The myriad of stars could be seen against a velvet black sky. In fact Wakanda was beautiful at any time. It was the best place on Earth. Shuri knew this without a doubt, but tonight the stars failed to bring her any peace. 

The truth was, she felt lonely. Her father was dead, and her brother, T’Challa, was King now. It had been a hard-earned throne and T’Challa had emerged a different man from his struggle. He was still the same wonderful man and brother, but he had responsibilities now, which Shuri understood completely. But still, it was hard. 

Shuri was spending hours and hours in her lab, developing new tech, updating anything and everything that could be updated, but somehow some of the pleasure of making breakthroughs in science had gone when she realised she didn’t really have anyone to share it with. No one to really care, anyway.

What she wanted- if she was being completely honest with herself- what she really wanted was a friend. The whole of Wakanda knew who she was, of course. Everyone loved the genius princess who designed the Panther suit. But no one really knew her as she was. No one really saw her as an actual person who doesn’t want to be put on a pedestal. It sounded so stupid to her as she said it. She was a princess, she had everything she could ever need! She knew people would laugh if she let on that she was lonely. People had it much worse than she did, of course. She had no right to complain. But still... 

Shuri sighed. She should really be asleep. She just needed to suck it up and get over herself. She thought of Barnes, the broken man T’Challa had brought back from the West. She had been working on a new vibranium arm for him. She let her mind wander. Maybe she could add this feature. Or maybe... 

***

The Raft was completely silent again. Guards were on their post outside the prisoner’s cells, more were watching the surveillance cameras from their offices. Everything was calm, as it should be.

And then, what seemed as quiet and as inconsequential as a gust of wind rippled through the prison. Guards silently slid to the floor, a tranquiliser dart in their necks.  
The only thing that could be seen from the surveillance footage before it was wiped out was a large figure with blonde hair making his way towards the prisoners and behind him, a smaller, slimmer figure set about disabling the cameras, a quick flash of red every now and then peering out from the hood of her sweatshirt. Then the cameras went dark, and Thadddeus Ross beat his fist on the CCTV camera in frustration. He would get them back and he would punish them if it killed him, especially the little witch.


	2. Promised Land

At first, Wanda couldn’t register what on earth was happening. She vaguely felt a commotion from the cells next to her, cries of happiness and laughter. She didn’t understand. What was there to be happy about? 

The next thing she knew, she felt hands on her shoulders, and a man was saying something to her, something she couldn’t quite make out.  
Her instant reaction was to panic, to get as far away from the man as possible. She hadn’t felt anyone’s touch for a while, and she didn’t want to feel any more pain. She jerked back and kicked out with her legs, bracing herself for the shock. 

Steve grunted in pain as Wanda hit him square in the stomach. He felt a burning rage rise up in him. What had these monsters to reduce Wanda to this state? She looked painfully thin, almost like she had when she had first joined the Avengers. It had taken a lot of work from both Wanda and Steve to get her fighting fit- all gone in a week or two. But far worse than that was the black, dead look in Wanda’s eyes. The look that connoted that she had given up. 

Steve looked to Clint for some kind of explanation. Clint shook his head. 

Let’s just focus on getting her out of here.” It took the effort of both Clint and Steve to get first the collar and then the straitjacket off of Wanda, but finally they were making their way to the Quinjet, where Natasha was waiting to take them away. 

Clint felt an emotion that he couldn’t quite name as he laid eyes on Natasha. They had been on opposite sides of this war, but he knew she would never turn away from him. He felt so grateful for her presence, after all the hell that he had gone through in the Raft, watching the girl he saw as his other daughter suffer and being able to do nothing about it.  
Natasha immediately made her way towards him, staring at him without emotion. Clint smiled. 

“Guess we didn’t hit each other hard enough, huh?” 

Natasha stared for a little while longer, before breaking into one of her rare, genuine smiles and enveloped him in a huge hug. They then shifted their attention to Wanda, who had immediately crashed on to a chair and had fallen asleep after being carried into the jet by Steve. 

“What happened?” Natasha asked softly. It had taken a long time for Natasha to trust the younger woman, but they had become close in the past months. Natasha would never admit it, but she had come to see Wanda as the younger sister she’d never had. It her to see the girl like this. 

Clint shook his head. “She went through so much in there, Nat. It was terrible. I...” 

“She’ll be ok. She’ll get the help she needs where we’re going.”

“Which is where, exactly?” 

Nat smiled at him slyly. 

“Oh, you’ll see...” 

*** 

Shuri heard the news the next morning. She was tinkering with the vibranium arm once again, trying to find something, some way to improve it. But it was perfect, if she said so herself. It was ready to give to Bucky, but what would she do then? How was she going to pass the hours which seemed longer and longer each day? 

Her spiel was cut short by the entrance of her brother. T’Challa smiled at her, but he looked serious. Shuri jumped up immediately. 

“What can I do for you, Your Majesty?” She asked, grinning. 

“Pleasure to see you again, Your Royal Highness.” T’Challa replied, in an equally teasing tone. He seemed rather nervous, Shuri noticed. “You remember what happened in Leipzig?”  
Shuri pretended to consider. “Let me think about that. Oh, wait, you mean that huge battle you had with the Avengers, one of whom you brought home with you for me to fix? Yeah, I think it rings a bell.” 

T’Challa laughed. “Yes, that. Well, um, well-” 

“In your own time.” 

“Be quiet, Shuri. Well, some of the Avengers are coming to stay with us for a while. Or to be more exact, we’re hiding them from the American government for a while.”  
“Are you kidding me? That’s great!” Shuri could barely contain her excitement. She wanted to know exactly how Captain America’s serum had worked, wanted to take a look at Redwing and see if she could improve him, and of course- 

“Oh, and there’s something else. You know Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch? I hear from the Captain that she wasn’t treated well in prison and may need your help.” Shuri thought back to what little she knew about the Scarlet Witch. She had always seemed very young and vulnerable compared to the big shots in the Avengers. But she was so incredibly powerful. She would be very interesting to work with. 

“No problem.” Shuri beamed at her brother. “I can’t wait to get started.” 

*** 

When Wanda woke up several hours later, she could sense something was different. As she began to make sense of the world around her, she made out the familiar interior of the Quinjet. The Quinjet. But that meant- 

She sat up suddenly her hands, her hands that she could finally, finally move, going to her neck. The collar was gone.  
Her sudden movement alerted Clint, who was sitting next to her. 

“Wanda- you’re awake! How are you feeling?” 

Wanda tried to reply, to tell Clint that she was still in pain, that she felt far from ok, but she was relieved to be out and she was happy here, but her chest constricted she found she was incapable of talking. All she could manage was a strangled sound. Even that little sound caused agony and she felt bile rise up her throat, her hand going back to her neck.  
This got Natasha’s attention, who came over to sit with Clint. 

“It’s ok, you don’t have talk. We’re going somewhere safe now, where you can recover. I’m so sorry that this happened to you.” 

Wanda looked from Natasha to Clint, wanting to ask where they were going and what was going to happened while she was in the Raft, but she didn’t know how. She considered using her powers to ask them telepathically, but she felt a bolt of panic jolt through her as the thought crosses her mind. 

Clint gave her a sympathetic smile and reached over to touch her shoulder. She flinched and jerked away from him and Clint immediately retracted his hand, apologising profusely. Wanda shook her head, trying to tell him that he had nothing to apologise for. He appeared to understand, and he was rewarded when Wanda gave him a tentative smile. She had a long, long way to go, but she was going to get there. 

 

*** 

As the Avenger’s jet touched down, Shuri could barely contain her excited. T’Challa looked over at her in amusement as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. Okoye and the Dora Milaje stood behind them, on alert. Not that there was anything to be wary of, in Shuri’s opinion.  
Finally, the jet’s doors slid open and the Avengers made their way out, one by one. Captain America led the way, looking every inch like the regal captain and hero he was. Shuri was waiting for red, white and blue flags and fireworks to follow him, maybe even a bald eagle. It was difficult not to giggle to herself, but she just managed it.  
The Captain was flanked by the Black Widow. She was even more beautiful and deadly-looking in real life. Gods, Shuri thought to herself, she would make anyone question their sexuality. From the way the red-haired woman’s eyes seemed to pierce, it would appear that the Widow knew exactly what she was thinking. Shuri blushed and moved her attention to the next arrivals. 

The Falcon, Hawkeye and the shrinking guy all came out together. They all looked tired and worn, but looked around at the palace grounds appreciatively. 

Then the Scarlet Witch appeared. If the other former prisoners had looked a tired, then she looked exhausted. No, she looked ill. She was thin and pale, and her lank hair didn’t quite cover the angry burns on her neck. More than that was the look of fear on her face. It was such a contrast from the quiet but fierce girl that Shuri had seen on TV that Shuri just wanted to give her a hug. 

T’Challa and the Captain embraced each other like old friends, and introductions were made (as if anyone needed them). 

“We have rooms prepared for all of you. Come with me and I will show you all where you will be staying. Oh, and Miss Maximoff-” The girl jumped violently at the sound of her name. Shuri saw the archer shoot her a concerned look. They were fairly close then. 

T’Challa paused for a moment, allowing Maximoff to regain her composure, before continuing. “-Miss Maximoff, you will be going with my sister, Princess Shuri, she will take a look at you and see what she can do about those marks on your neck.” 

Maximoff’s hand went straight to her neck. She looked extremely uncomfortable and Shuri could sense that she wanted to say something but couldn’t. So Shuri decided that it was time to break the ice. 

“Nice to meet you. But fair warning, if you call me Your Royal Highness or anything stupid I will personally kick you out of Wakanda, ok?” 

Maximoff- Wanda- smiled, very slightly. It was small, but it was there. She nodded and Shuri grinned at her. 

“Great! Let’s get started!” 

*** 

Ross was not a very happy man, but he couldn’t recall a time when he had felt angrier than he did now. For two short weeks, he had had everything. He had had four Avengers under his control, to do whatever he wanted. The government were willing to turn a blind eye as long as he contained the threat to security that was the red witch. 

He had been barely able to contain his disgust when he had first laid on her in the Avengers Compound. It had been a great pleasure to place the Sokovia Accords before her and to watch her face fall when she read the restrictions on enhanced beings. He had helped to write the Accords with her specifically in mind. 

So imagine his joy when she had broken the law and he could finally get hold of her. When he had seen her in the straitjacket, completely helpless before him, he had felt such a surge of joy that no sane man could possibly understand. The amount of things he could do with her immense power. He could do tests on her and examine her whenever, and no one could a thing to stop him. She was very pretty too, and that was a bonus. 

It was then that he had felt the Witch’s eyes on him, and he felt a prickling feeling in his head. Then he saw the girl’s widen in terror as she tried to back away from. He had quickly put it all together. The witch was reading his mind! Rage and smugness washed over him in equal parts. She would never get in anyone’s mind, or move or eat on her own ever again. 

What he didn’t know what that Wanda had had no intention of getting into his head,but his thoughts had been practically screaming to her. That, combined with the fear she felt at being tied up like a dangerous criminal, meant that she had little control over her powers, and what she had seen in Ross’ mind had chilled her to the core. She had looked at him in terror, and he had stared back at her coldly. 

That was when the collar had come out. He had personally put it on her. 

“Don’t ever try something like that again, little witch.” He had said, smiling at her, gently caressing her hair, which she had flinched away from, before striding away. 

Ross had been so sure that he had absolute control over her that her escape from the Raft made him so filled with rage and blinding hatred towards her, far more than anything he had felt towards Banner. 

Now, he called a task force of all his best men. They would hunt down the Fugitives, and they would get them back at any cost. Any other government projects that any of his task force were involved in could be put on hold until they were found. He would fund the search from his own pocket if he must. He would take back the little witch at any cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the end was uncomfortable to write. I hope you enjoyed :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I've always wanted to write something like this and I'm finally doing it. If anyone has an requests for this story or any in general I would love to do them. And pleaseee let me know what you think :D


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